DOMS: It’s why a hard workout hurts so much the next day (and the day after)

Whether you've just started working with a drill sergeant PT or you've given a new sport like waterskiing a try, one thing is for certain when you put your body through its paces – you'll likely wake up achey the next day, and potentially worse the day after.

The phenomenon is known as DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness), can last anywhere from three to seven days, and is characterised by difficulty heaving yourself out of bed or weakness walking down stairs — which many of us are guilty of boasting about as a sign of how hard we went on legs day.

"It's microscopic damage to muscle fibre that peaks at about 36 hours post-exercise," she says.

"It's most common with unfamiliar or strenuous activity compared to what you are doing normally."

It was once thought to be an inflammatory reaction but Brasher says that theory has been put to bed.

"Research has shown there is little or no inflammatory response," she says

"It's more like an immunological reaction in the surrounding area of muscle rather than the actual muscle itself."

It can feel like you've injured yourself, but the difference between identifying DOMS and a more serious muscle tear is that DOMS tends to be a whole muscle ache whereas an injury is tender in one specific spot and doesn't get better.

"DOMS gets better by itself," Brasher explains.

"It's often more common with muscle contractions that lengthen the muscles, like doing deadlifts for hamstrings or running downhill for the quads."

There are benefits to DOMS – namely that it's a step in the path to strength, plus feeling all those tiny muscle pinches kinda makes you feel more ripped.

"It's a normal part of the process of overloading the musculoskeletal system and then allowing it to recover and that's how we make gains and get stronger," Brasher says.

Getting DOMS too many times can lead to injury but usually only when people don't give themselves enough recovery time, plus have poor sleep patterns and high stress levels.

Time is the only healer

Brasher says that a lot of her clients swear by massage or stretching, but the research isn't all that convincing.

"After massage, studies show only small reductions in pain and increases in muscle strength at that 24-hour mark for people that have post-exercise massage compared to people who don't," she says.

"There's some studies that show there is some reduction in muscle soreness from ice baths but again not a huge effect, which is probably because there is no inflammation in the muscle."

Other people swear by taking magnesium supplements but Brasher is not convinced that it will make a difference.

"You'll want to do heaps of squats and calf raises to get those big anti-gravity muscles used to squatting down and pushing against the ground so when you do get on the snow you aren't getting as much soreness."

A low-intensity workout can feel more pleasant when you're suffering DOMS but Brasher says there is no evidence that it will propel your recovery.

"It's fine to train on it and it should just get better after that second day," she says.